Nomination guidelines for Australian Youth Sailing Team released

5:17 AM Wed 17 Jun 2009 GMT

'Gabrielle King - Youth Worlds 2008' Craig Heydon Click Here to view large photo

Yachting Australia has released the guidelines for the nomination and selection of the OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Sailing Team for the 2010 ISAF World Youth Sailing Championship.

Australia has a long and proud history at the ISAF World Youth Sailing Championships and the nomination and selection guidelines are designed to ensure that the strongest team possible will be representing Australia in Istanbul, Turkey, in July 2010.

The 2010 ISAF World Youth Sailing Championship will feature eight classes of racing; Laser Radial's for both boys and girls, 420's for boys and girls, 29er open class (subject to ISAF approval), RS:X for boys and girls and multihull open class in a Sirena SL16.

Yachting Australia CEO Phil Jones said that the being a part of the OAMPS Insurance Brokers Youth Sailing Team was an important stepping-stone for young sailors hoping to excel at the elite level.

'The ISAF World Youth Sailing Championships is the largest and most professional regatta for competitors under 19 years of age,' said Mr Jones. 'It provides young sailors with the opportunity to compete against the best in world and experience a major international competition.'

'Australian sailors have always performed exceptionally well with a number of athletes continuing on to the Australian Sailing Team, current members Nathan Outteridge, Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson all won Gold at the ISAF World Youth Sailing Championship in recent years,' he said.

To be eligible for nomination and selection an athlete must meet a number of criteria, including; be a national of Australia or in the process of becoming a national of Australia at the time that the nomination is made, be a current member of a yacht/sailing club affiliated with a State of Territory Yachting Association and be a current Yachting Australia Silver or Youth Member.

Athletes must also no attain their 19th birthday by 31 December 2010, comply with ISAF Regulation 19.2 - Eligibility code, and ISAF Regulation 21 - ISAF Anti-Doping Policy, and comply with the gender requirements of an Event of the 2010 ISAF World Youth Championship.

YAI Mastercol compressed Craig Heydon

Yachting Australia will use a number of nomination regattas to select the team, including; 2010 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Championship for all classes to be held at Largs Bay Sailing Club in South Australia from 6-10 January 2010, plus the 2010 Australian Laser Radial Class Championship for both boys and girls single handed dinghy, and 2010 Australian 420 Class Championship for both boys and girls double handed dinghy.

The boys and girls boardsailing event at the 2010 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Championship will be held on a Bic Techno 293 while the Multihull open will be contested on a Hobie 16 with spinnaker.

Yachting Australia will conduct a nomination point score for the events and the results will form the basis for nomination and selection of team members for the 2010 ISAF World Youth Sailing Championship.

The nomination point score may also be used to select a Youth Development Squad with members potentially invited to various training camps.

by Craig Heydon

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